“Everything okay?”
I nodded without turning around. “My father’s going to have one of our people see if he can figure out where the email came from. In the meantime, he wants me to stick by your side.”
Lucien didn’t respond immediately. But when I turned, he was watching me with a small smile on his handsome face. I could imagine how that smile might make some women’s hearts twitter like birds in the spring. But not mine. He might be pretty, but he really wasn’t my type. Too tall. Too handsome. I liked my men to look more like they belonged in the world I grew up in, a place where the men proved their masculinity by fixing a carburetor on the kitchen table and sweating on the basketball court. Lucien looked like he didn’t even know what a carburetor was. Though I could imagine he might have seen a few basketball courts in his time. But it was probably in a fancy club where the pool was heated and the track had a nice, padded carpet to protect that precious instep.
“What does that mean, stick by my side?”
“That I stay here for the rest of the afternoon. And when you go home, you’ll need to take me with you.”
That smile widened just slightly. “There’s something I should probably tell you, then.”
“What’s that?”
“Jacob and I are supposed to drive out to our parents’ house tonight. If you’re supposed to stick with me, you’ll have to come along.”
“Where’s your parents’ house?”
“Not far. They have a beach house in Kemah.”
“Kemah.” I’d expected him to say River Oaks. But Kemah was a good hour’s drive from my little apartment in the second ward.
“Have you ever been to that part of Galveston Bay?”
I shook my head. “I don’t spend much time at the beach.”
“Well, you’ll need a bikini. When everyone’s home, my parents like to throw a barbecue. And my sister, Rachel, will drag you out onto the beach.”
Great.
I just nodded again because I didn’t know what else to say. What I really wanted to do was call my father and beg him again to have someone else do this. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t spend an entire weekend with this man and his family. We had absolutely nothing in common. What would we talk about? I wasn’t even sure I would know how to behave at a meal. What if it was one of those Princess Diaries moments with a dozen forks and knives and spoons? What if I made a fool out of myself tying to be something I wasn’t? I was a middle class girl, the daughter of a cop and a schoolteacher. I barely graduated from high school, and spent five years in the Army. That was the sum value of my experience in the world. I didn’t know anything about fancy wines and high end fashion and expensive cuts of meat. And all that on top of this little act we had going on… What was I going to do when it was time to go to bed and everyone expected me to sleep with Lucien?
I felt panic building in my chest. I really didn’t want to do this. But I knew there was no way out of it. I was committed, whether I liked it or not.
“We should go do our tour of the building, or Jacob will think we’ve gotten up to no good in here.”
Lucien laid his hands on my shoulders, and the closeness was almost too much. My skin crawled at the same time my stomach tightened. I stepped away, adjusting the stupid purse on my shoulder (I never carry a purse. I prefer pockets. In my jeans.) so that he wouldn’t think I’d pulled away specifically to get away from him. For some reason, I cared about what he thought. And that was so unlike me. He was a client. I cared that he didn’t get hurt or dead. Nothing else really mattered. Why did I care if his feelings got hurt?
Eyes were on us from the moment we stepped out of the office. Lucien slid his arm around my waist and held me close as we walked down the hall to the elevator. He introduced me to the executives who found some excuse to come out of their offices and wander near us, their curious eyes suggesting that Lucien didn’t often bring women around the office. I also got the impression that there were a few of his coworkers who would have much rather been in my place than theirs.
“You’re well liked around here, aren’t you?” I asked when we were alone on the elevator.
He touched my cheek, brushing a curl away from my eyes.
“We’re alone.”
“There are cameras,” he said without turning, without gesturing. Then he bent low and brushed his lips against mine. I had a choice. I could move away, or I could do my job and kiss him back. And that was an odd thought. When had my job become about kissing virtual strangers?
I moved in to him, pressing my hand to his side, and returned his kiss. It began as a gentle, almost friendly, kiss. But it quickly turned into something else as he tugged me closer with a hand on my hip. My body seemed to respond to him without any thought on my part, my bones melting to mold to his body, my jaw loosening to welcome him. And, hell, it felt good! Why did it have to feel so good?
I was almost relieved when the elevator door opened and he pulled away, sliding his hand into mine as we stepped out into a startlingly white corridor.
“This is the basement where the labs are.” Lucien gestured to the right. “Those are the clean rooms. We’ll go over there in a minute. But first I want to show you the chemistry labs.”
He led the way into a large room that looked almost like the lab at the high school I’d attended, but, of course, it had more state-of-the-art equipment. There were dozens of people bent to their work, mostly staring into microscopes or watching the action of other machines I couldn’t begin to describe, let alone explain what they did. Lucien pulled me along by my hand, speaking in hushed tones so as not to disturb anyone. He told me how they’d bought the patents to certain medications when they began the business so that they would have revenues before they were able to come up with unique medications of their own. Some of those were still produced in these labs. Others were produced in mass quantities at other facilities. Most of the work done in these labs was on new medications, medications that had yet to receive FDA approval.
“Over the next two years, we hope to release three new drugs. One to treat heart disease. Another to treat Parkinson’s. And a promising new drug that has shown marked improvement in people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease.”
“Impressive.”
“It’s our goal to change the landscape of American medicine.”
“That’s a lofty goal.”
“It is.”
Then he led me across the small lobby to the other side of the floor. The clean rooms required us to put on paper suits and to slide covers over our shoes. Once again, he held my hand as he led the way inside. He led the way to a set of windows and stood behind me, his body pressed up against my back, his hands on my hips, as he explained what we were watching. People in suits not unlike our own were assembling what looked like miniature computers.
“Those are a new style of insulin pump we’ve designed. We already have a patent for that, and it has been undergoing human trials for almost a year. We’re expecting the FDA to allow us to go to market in six months.”
He turned me and pointed to another window. “That is the pacemaker we’ve designed. It’s already on the market, changing people’s lives every day.”
Then he shifted me again, pointing to another window. “That device can be implanted in a patient’s brain and help control the tremors associated with Parkinson’s.”
“That’s…”
I didn’t have words for all they were doing here. It was impressive, but that didn’t seem like a big enough word for all the good they were trying to do for people. I’d known what kind of business this was before I set eyes on Lucien and Jacob the night before, but it really hadn’t sunk in until I saw all of this myself.
Lucien’s arm came around my waist, and he drew me closer to him.
“Are you impressed yet?”
I nodded. There was no point in lying.
We left the clean rooms a few minutes later and re-boarded the elevator. Lucien lifted my hand and kissed my palm lightl
y.
“Do you understand now?” he asked, his eyes searching mine.
“We’ll do everything we can.”
He smiled. “I know,” he said as he bent and kissed me once more.
He left me in his office as he went off to some meeting down the hall. I called Theresa and sent her to my apartment to pack me a bag for the weekend. And then I settled behind Lucien’s desk and logged onto his computer. I’d worked with computers some in the Army, enough to know how to find things that most people didn’t even know they could look for. I wanted to know who’d sent that email to Lucien, wanted to know who would be greedy enough to block any life-saving device from hitting the marketplace. I knew Robert was working on it, but I might as well do something useful while I was here.
I was digging through Lucien’s files when the door opened and his personal assistant walked in.
“Oh, you shouldn’t be doing that,” she said, walking around the desk and turning off the monitor, like that would do anything to stop me.
“It’s okay. Lucien knows what I’m doing.”
“Still. You shouldn’t. There’re a lot of corporate secrets on these computers.”
“You’ve worked here a while?”
She nodded. “Since the beginning.”
“You know him well, then.”
She glanced at me, wariness in her eyes.
“If you’re going to ask me about his dating history, you probably shouldn’t. I don’t like gossip.”
“Oh, of course.” That wasn’t really where I was going, but if that’s what she wanted to think, more power to her. “I was just wondering how dangerous it was for him to be the CEO of a place like this. I can imagine people would want a piece of the potential profits of what they do here.”
“I guess they do. He and Jacob both get threats sometimes. And hate mail. But security takes care of it.”
I nodded. Security here was pretty solid. I’d already seen that firsthand when I’d tried to come upstairs without an appointment. They’d followed protocol right down to the letter, just like Lucien had said they would.
“Has anyone ever tried to bribe you to get close to them? Offered money to slip them information?”
“No. But it wouldn’t do them any good. Lucien’s careful that I never see anything sensitive.”
Again, exactly what he’d told me.
“You should probably go wait over there,” Jaime said, gesturing to the couch. “Mr. Montgomery will be back in a bit.”
“Okay.”
I did as I was told, watching Jaime straighten up Lucien’s desk and busy herself with little tasks that came off as just an attempt to look busy while she babysat me. I wondered if someone had sent her in here, or if she’d taken the task upon herself. If someone wanted to get close to Lucien, or wanted to sneak something into this office, she would be a good way to do it. But she seemed loyal. In fact, any doubt I might have had about her loyalty vanished when Lucien came into the room. Her eyes lit up, and she suddenly became less self-assured, her hands moving over her hips to smooth her simple skirt into place.
Like most of the women in this building, she had a crush on the boss. The only question was, was that a good thing? Or a bad thing?
Chapter 7
Lucien
When Jacob found out that Adrienne would be joining us at the beach house this weekend, he suddenly remembered some paperwork he needed to finish at the office. For that reason, Adrienne and I drove out alone. She interrogated me the first forty minutes of the drive, probing my thoughts for any vulnerabilities that would allow someone from the outside to obtain information about our projects. But there were none. We were exceedingly careful about who saw or heard or read anything about our ongoing projects.
She grew quiet, staring out the window as we made our way toward Kemah.
“Did your people figure out who sent the email to me?”
She shook her head. “Not yet.”
There didn’t seem to be much more to talk about.
We pulled up to the house a while later. I have so many fond memories of this house that a sort of peace always settles over me when I pull into the drive. It’s really a fairly modest home. It’s designed sort of like a log cabin with a wide deck that runs all the way around the outside of the house. It has a large, open kitchen, a living room that stretches from the front door to the back deck, a fireplace the centerpiece. Then there’s four bedrooms, each larger than the last, each with its own access to the deck. And, of course, the beach is right outside the back deck, a private stretch where we could skinny dip if we so wanted. And I’d indulged once or twice, back when I was in college…
Adrienne was staring up at the house, her expression—as always—unreadable.
“We should go in,” I said.
She glanced at me. “I think we should lay down a few ground rules.”
I smiled because it seemed like we’d already broken almost any rule she might set. But I nodded.
“Hands above—”
Before she could finish, her door was wrenched open. She jumped, turning so quickly I thought she might do something crazy. It was a good thing she couldn’t hide a gun in that short little dress she was wearing. Rachel, all enthusiasm and laughter, reached in and threw her arms around her.
“I was so excited when Lucien called and said he’d be bringing a girl. Do you know how long it’s been since Lucien brought a girl home? You must really be something!”
Adrienne looked absolutely at a loss for words. It was almost refreshing.
“Let her get out of the car, Rachel.”
“Oh, yeah.”
Rachel backed off, and Adrienne looked at me, her eyes wide. I leaned close and whispered, “Sorry. My sister.”
She nodded, but she still seemed startled. I climbed out of the car, and Rachel launched herself at me, throwing her arms around my neck.
“She’s gorgeous!” she said against my ear.
“Yes, she is.”
“Your taste has changed. But I approve.”
I laughed as I carefully extracted myself from Rachel’s touch. I went around the car and helped Adrienne out, tugging her against my side as much to keep her from turning tail and running as to keep Rachel from overwhelming her any more.
“Mom and Dad are out on the back deck,” Rachel informed us. “Mom’s thrilled you’re bringing a girl, too.”
“Is that right?”
“Yeah. She said it’s about time you focus on something other than work.”
I groaned even as Adrienne glanced up at me, a spark of curiosity in her eye. I tossed my keys at Rachel.
“Make yourself useful. Take our bags to my room.”
At that, Adrienne stiffened. We hadn’t really talked about sleeping arrangements. But I’d thought she would have guessed that we’d have to share a room. Maybe not.
Mom and Karl were sharing a bottle of wine, sitting close to each other on the wicker loveseat on the back deck. Mom unfolded herself and came to me with her arms wide open as we stepped through the French doors.
“Lucien. You look well,” she said as she hugged me and laid a wet kiss on my cheek. “I’m glad you could come.”
“I wouldn’t be anywhere else.”
She smiled as she patted my cheeks. “You’re a good boy.”
Then she turned to Adrienne. “Aren’t you beautiful,” she said.
Adrienne blushed, a sight that I have to admit I enjoyed seeing. Adrienne didn’t often look uncomfortable, but she looked as though she’d prefer to be anywhere but here in this moment.
“Have some wine,” Karl called from loveseat, holding up the bottle that had been sitting on the side table beside him. He always seemed to know how to defuse an awkward situation.
I tugged at Adrienne’s hand and led the way to the matching wicker couch, pulling her down beside me as Karl poured the wine. She was stiff as I slid my arm around her, but she slowly relaxed as she sipped the wine and Karl stirred the conversation to neutral thi
ngs, such as the weather and the traffic coming out of the city.
And then the tornado that was Rachel descended on us.
“How did you meet? How long have you been seeing each other? What do you do for a living? Are you into biotechnology too?”
The questions came like the staccato of machine gun fire. Adrienne stared at her like she couldn’t quite wrap her mind around what she was saying. I tugged her close, dropping a kiss on her forehead before turning to Rachel.
“Hey. We’re going to be here all weekend. Maybe you could take a deep breath?”
Mom laughed. “Yeah, Rachel. Give the girl a break.”
“Sorry,” Rachel said, folding herself into a chair. “I’m just curious. The last girl Lucien brought home was Kelly. And we all remember how that ended.”
Yeah. Don’t like to be reminded.
Adrienne glanced up at me, and I became aware that I was the one who’d stiffened now. Again, there was the slightest spark of curiosity in her eyes. And, for the first time since this charade began, she touched me without me having to touch her first. She ran her hand slowly up the length of my chest, letting it rest just above my heart. I found myself wondering what that was about even as I leaned close and kissed her gently.
I was aware of my family watching. But I was also aware that Adrienne was responding to me more freely every time I touched her. And I liked that.
Karl cleared his throat and started talking about a street fair that was happening downtown tomorrow. I only half heard him. Adrienne had my bottom lip between her teeth, and her fingers were sliding under the unbuttoned edge of my shirt, her nails scraping ever so lightly against my skin. And my hand was sliding slowly over her hip, tugging her a little closer against me as my thoughts began moving places they shouldn’t be going.
It had been a long time since I’d had a woman in my life. Even a temporary woman.
There was a blush on Adrienne’s cheeks when she broke the kiss, reaching for her glass of wine. I watched her sip the deep red liquid, the heat not cooling as quickly as it probably should have.
LUCIEN: A Standalone Romance Page 5